The Elephant in the Room: Employees May be Gone During Coronavirus but Harassment and Discrimination Remain
By March 23, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had ground the economy nearly to a halt, people were (and still are) terrified.
Victoria’s Secret Under Scrutiny for Alleged Culture of Harassment
For years a symbol of sex and male fantasy, the empire built by executives at lingerie powerhouse Victoria’s Secret has always carried a certain mystique in the popular culture lexicon. But as changing views of women’s bodies and enhanced scrutiny on the objectification of females both inside and out of the workplace are commonplace, the […]
UA Pilot Posts Explicit Coworker Photos: Costs Airline $321,000
Few industries have a greater history of machoism and exploitation of female employees than commercial aviation. Looking back throughout history, you find female flight attendants outfitted in short skirts, pilots bragging about their conquests in various destinations, and an overall attitude of cockpit disrespect toward flight crew. A recent lawsuit filed by a female flight […]
“In My Day” – Inflammatory Age-Based Statements Unacceptable
This massive settlement illustrates the depth of issues a business can face when it allows discrimination and harassment to exist in its organization.
New York Seeks to Expand Sexual Harassment Laws
In 2018, New York enacted sweeping legislation requiring employers to train nearly all employees that work in that State. While it is likely employers are still scrambling to meet these new requirements, the 2019 legislative session shows no signs of New York slowing down its efforts to eradicate offensive behavior from its workplaces. Lawmakers […]
Examining the Effectiveness of Harassment Training
Much ink has been spilled debating the effectiveness of legalistic (and formulaic) anti-harassment training. Nearly everyone agrees that grouping employees in a room with a 1980’s era VCR/television combination unit and playing a video recorded by a corporate lawyer with little or no training on preventive practice is the wrong way to conduct harassment training, […]
Remaining Cognizant of Harassment by Non-Employees
Few areas of harassment training draw more confusion than cases involving third parties. Employers are left wondering what they can, and should, be doing to protect their employees from harassment that originates via contact with those outside the organization. Hewitt vs. BS Transportation, a recent case decided in the United States District Court for the […]
2018 In Review & the Future of Harassment Training Laws in 2019
A timeline of 2018 harassment incidents read like a “who’s who” of American celebrities and executives. What began in mid-2017 as a social media movement to point out incidents of harassment in the workplace became an everyday occurrence this past year. As #MeToo enters its third calendar year, let’s look at developments in the area […]
Under Armour Ends Practice of Expensing Visits to Gentlemen’s Clubs
For years, Under Armour allowed its employees, managers, supervisors and even its CEO to expense lunch buffet and happy hour visits to a variety of Gentlemen’s Clubs as part of its corporate policy. Under the former policy, Under Armour employees were encouraged to take clients, colleagues and sponsored athletes to strip clubs to relax and […]
How the EEOC is Revamping Workplace Culture to Prevent Harassment
As the United States continues to grapple with how to best respond to the spate of complaints and press about workplace harassment, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) further explores new avenues to addressing this concern. In 2016, the EEOC published its “Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace,” a […]